Final field set for Tour Championship

By RODNEY PAGE and BOB HARIG
Published October 31, 2005

PALM HARBOR - For the past two years, the Chrysler Championship has determined the final top 125 players on the money list due to its status as the last official tour event of the season. That is not the case this season because the Southern Farm Bureau Classic in Madison, Miss., was pushed back to this week due to Hurricane Katrina.

But the Chrysler Championship was the final tournament in deciding the top 30 players who qualify for this week's Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta.

Chad Campbell benefitted from his second-place finish and $572,400 earned to vault from 43rd to 17th and a spot in the Tour Championship. Tim Herron also got a boost from 40th to 29th on the money list due to his 5-under finish.

Geoff Ogilvy (31st) and Shigeki Maruyama (32nd) dropped out of the top 30.

"I didn't know the numbers exactly, but I knew I needed to finish top three or so," Campbell said. "I'm pretty happy with myself to be able to get that done. It's kind of been an up and down year for me, and to be able to end the year off like this and get a reward to go to Atlanta, I'm pretty happy with my play today."

Charles Howell was 30th entering the tournament and moved up to 28th after finishing tied for 16th. Lucas Glover slipped from 28th to 30th with a tie for 35th.

DEJA VU: Tag Ridings finished 125th on the money list last season after draining a birdie putt on the 18th hole of the Chrysler Championship. This season, Ridings entered the tournament 126th on the list.

Thanks to a 4-under 67 on Sunday, which included another made birdie putt on 18, Ridings finished tied for third at 5 under. He earned $216,164 and moved up to 101st on the money list. That means he retains his tour card for another season.

The top 125 on the money list are fully exempt for the following season.

"It was a good feeling to be in the same place I was last year because I had a little extra confidence," Ridings said. "I knew that I did it last year, maybe I can do it again. I can't believe the putt went in on 18."

Briny Baird , who missed the cut this week, is 125th on the money list with the Southern Farm Bureau Classic remaining.

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE: The future of the Chrysler Championship hung over the tournament all weekend, with officials from the PGA Tour and Chrysler on hand. Although there has been plenty of talk about moving the tournament from its fall date to the spring starting with a new, enhanced schedule in 2007, nothing has been determined, according to a Chrysler marketing executive Dave Rooney .

"That's up to the PGA Tour," said Rooney, who presented the trophy to winner Carl Pettersson . "We'll be involved in that but right now it's a great a tournament. And it'll be a great tournament next year. After that, we don't know."

Rooney refused to say what Chrysler would like to have happen. Fall or spring?

"There's been so much speculation, so many different scenarios," he said. "We will have to wait and see."

LEAVE ME ALONE: Davis Love was in contention to start the final round, but he blew up with a 5-over 76 to finish tied for 16th. His round included a triple bogey on 16.

Asked to comment on his round, Love said "No."

THANKS A BILLION: With its charitable donations from this week's tournaments, including the Chrysler Championship, the PGA Tour will reach $1-billion in all-time charitable contributions. The PGA started donating money to charity in 1938 and reached $500-million in contributions in 1999. It raised another $500-million in seven years.